Strawberry mousse

Strawberries mousse.

This dessert is as good as the strawberries you use. Which means that here, in Calgary, you’ll have to go for the most rotten strawberries in the store and then add some sugar. On the plus side, this dessert takes 10 minutes to prepare and can be frozen if needed.

All you wanted to know about chocolate

Well, not all, but at least how they put centers in chocolates. I recently stumbled across this National Film Board short (4:50 min) movie presenting the process through which chocolates are mass manufactured. I still think my raw almond cocoa truffles are better, but the short movie is worth watching.

Almond Cocoa Truffles

Cocoa and almond, no sugar and 5 minutes prep time. Can you resist it? These ‘truffles’ are delicious and it’s easy to have the ingredients in your household at all times. This is what you need (I got everything in the organic section at Superstore):

Who knew cocoa pudding is so easy to make?

Hard to believe, but this beauty took around 20 minutes to make! Needless to say, it will become a staple in my household (chocolaty taste in under half an hour, yeah!).

Quick apple snack

You know what they say: an apple a day keeps the doctor away. If you have an apple and you want to try something new, here’s a great idea for a quick snack. My mom used to make it for me when I was a kid, and I remembered about it a few days ago:

Cacao Sweet Bread

Sweet bread (cozonac) is a popular dessert in some parts of the world, similar to the Italian Panettone. If you have a bread machine, making it will feel like a breeze. You can also fill them with a variety of things, like crumbled walnuts, raisins, poppy seeds, turkish delight or cacao.  The quantities below will yield two sweet breads. Although you can try to refrigerate them,  I found that they don’t usually last more than 3-4 days so it’s best to prepare them when you know you’ll have company.

Ingredients: For sweet bread: 250 ml cold milk, 1 tsp salt, 125 gr butter (room temperature), 2 eggs plus 2 extra egg yolks (keep the egg whites for filling), 650 gr flour, 150 gr sugar, lemon rind, 3 tsp yeast. For filling: 100 ml b, 6 Tbsp cacao, 8 Tbsp sugar, 3 egg whites, vanilla.

Instructions:

1. Put ingredients for sweet bread in the bread machine in the order indicated above (milk, salt, butter, eggs, flour, sugar, lemon rind, yeast).
2. Set bread machine on dough option.  Note: some people advise you run the dough program twice to obtain a fluffier dough. I used it only once, and it was good enough for me.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the filling by mixing all the ingredients listed above (milk, cacao, sugar, egg whites, vanilla). You can use other ingredients for the filling (walnuts, poppy seeds and cacao, raisins, turkish delight).
4. Lightly flour a counter-top or a cookie tray and start working the dough. First divide it in two. Set one part aside.
5. Using your hands, press the dough into a rectangular form. Spoon the filling in, then roll it and place in a baking form. Repeat for the second dough ball.
6. Bake in the oven (350F) for 45 minutes or until the bread forms a golden crust.

Sweet Bread (Cozonac)

Almond chocolate raw cupcakes

My friend inspired me to try this recipe. It will take you around 20 minutes or less to produce a batch of the most delicious cupcakes you’ve ever tasted. 100% chocolate, no cooking, no eggs or flour, minimum mess. If you are not into raw/ vegan food, then you’ll need to get some relatively expensive items from the health food stores/ sections: cocoa powder (and it is crucial that you get a really good one, not the no-name stuff from your regular food store), coconut butter and almond butter (budget around $10-14 for each of these items, but you’ll use them for other desserts too).

Ingredients: 4 Tbsp cocoa powder, 3 Tbsp coconut butter (leave it out for a couple of hours before using it; you want it to be in a liquid form), 2 Tbsp honey, 2 Tbsp almond butter, a pinch of salt. Optional: a bit of rum, any type of nuts, raisins or dried fruits.

Instructions:

1. In a big bowl, mix cocoa powder with coconut butter and a pinch of salt. Add the honey and the almond butter. If using any of the optional ingredients, add them now too.
2. Line a muffin pan with muffin paper cups.
3. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups and gently press the contents to homogenize.
4. Put in the fridge for 20-30 minutes (keep refrigerated when not eating them!).

Pineapple Raw Muffins

Pineapple raw muffin.

No flour, no eggs, no sugar, no cooking (just blending!). Yet, you’ll still be able to make some delicious muffins. How? It’s actually quite simple! All you need to do is blend all the ingredients below, then scoop and press the dough into a muffin tray, refrigerate for a few hours and voila, you’re enjoying your raw muffin!

Mango Pie

Mango Pie

I made this mango pie the other day – it’s fresh, not too sweet and the texture is very smooth. It works with frozen pie dough or with a regular pie shell. You’ll need: 1 pie shell, 150gr Philadelphia unsalted (cream) cheese, 3 mangoes (or you can use frozen mango), 3-4 tbsp sugar (add more if you want the pie to be sweeter), 4-6 tbsp white flour, milk, orange juice (or any fruit juice – under 1/4 cup), vanilla extract.

Instructions:

1. Wash, peel and cut mangoes. Apparently you can peel mangoes very easily if you sink them in boiling water for 1-2 minutes.
2. Put mango, fruit (orange) juice, cream cheese, sugar and 1 egg in the blender and mix well. Add vanilla extract, flour and a bit of milk (something like 1/4 cup or even less) and mix again.
3. Pour everything into the pie shell.
4. Bake in the oven (350F) for 20 minutes or until the filling becomes firm.

Dark chocolate and ginger biscotti

If you like dark chocolate and biscotti, than this is a recipe for you. You’ll need: 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup oil, dark chocolate (bulk), crystallized ginger (bulk) and walnuts. Instructions In a large bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, mix the egg and the egg yolk. Add sugar, oil and vanilla. Incorporate the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. The batter will become very dense and you’ll probably have to use a wooden spoon to mix it. Melt dark chocolate and pour over the batter. Mix well. Add walnuts and chopped crystallized ginger. Mix well. Using your hands, divide the batter in two and shape it into a log. Place the two logs on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes (note: leave some space between the logs, because they will flatten). Take out of the oven, let cool for 10 minutes, then slice the logs and bake for an extra 5 minutes (do not bake them for longer or they will crumble). Enjoy them with green tea! Recipe from wholeliving